Oklahoma center Gabe Ikard has been named one of 16 winners of the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Awards and a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, awarded to the best scholar-athlete in the nation.

Selected by the NFF Awards Committee, Ikard and the other honorees will each travel to New York City for the 56th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 10 at the Waldorf-Astoria. Each will receive an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship, and one will be named as the recipient of the Campbell Trophy.

The Oklahoma City native is a senior co-captain who has started in 46 games in his career, including every game this season. Recently named a midseason All-American by USA Today, Sports Illustrated and CBSSports.com, Ikard graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA in multidisciplinary studies in May and is currently a graduate student at OU.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first-team player or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.